Based on our recent content marketing tactics study, we found that best-in-class marketers use a content marketing mix of 65% created content and 25% curated content. Twenty-five percent of content should be curated for a multitude of reasons, including establishing thought leadership. However, in order to share outside information, we need to know what elements go into a curated post. In this article, Sarah Mincher explains why businesses should start curating and provides a couple rules that should be taken into consideration for curation beginners. Her first rule is to give credit where credit is due to avoid plagiarism.

Curation is an efficient way to transform yourself into an industry leader. Furthermore, it shows your target audience that you’re knowledgeable on your industry, which can heighten your credibility.”

Read Mincher’s full article to find out what her other content curation ground rule is. To learn more about getting started with content curation, check out our eBook, The Ultimate Guide to Content Curation.

As content marketing evolves, it is becoming clear that leading companies are creating a dedicated content marketing budget. In fact, according to our Ultimate List of Content Marketing Statistics, 64% of companies with a documented content strategy have a dedicated content marketing budget. Our recent content marketing tactics study also reported that 76% of marketers are increasing content marketing investment this year. In this article, Pratik Dholakiya provides ten reasons why small businesses specifically should invest in content marketing. One of the reasons? Increased volume of content leads to increased effectiveness and confidence in your business.

Organizations who feel they are very effective in their marketing place a large focus on content. Not only do they have a documented content strategy, but they also have someone who oversees their content marketing. Most importantly, they are producing a large amount of content and plan to create even more in the coming months.”

From our research on business blogging, we found that the top three drivers of blog content strategy include: personas, audience demographics and buying stage. Using customer data and analytics along with persona information will reveal what topics your target audience is looking for. This adds the element of personalization to create better targeted content. In this article, Sarah Willis discusses tactics that can be used to connect with your audience on a personal level of interest.

It is necessary to avoid targeting the wrong people with the wrong content, which is likely to alienate customers. Close to three quarters of US consumers become frustrated when a website shows them irrelevant offers or promotions, so it can be presumed that offering users content that doesn’t match their interests is a similar turn-off.”

To learn more about personalizing your content, read Willis’s entire article. To get more tips on how to supply your audience with the right content, check out our eBook, Business Blogging Secrets Revealed.

One of the greatest benefits of content creation is the ability to generate leads. Once we grab our audience’s attention with a great piece of content, we can draw them further down the funnel. This builds a relationship between us and our readers whom can ultimately turn into customers. In this article, Michael Stelzner summarizes his interview with Jason Miller, the Senior Manager of Content and Social at LinkedIn. Miller believes one of the best ways to get lead conversions is to create content that influencers will share.

When you first start building your presence, seek out thought leaders in the space. Figure out how to take their wisdom and feature it in your content. You’ll add third-party validation and keep from talking too much about yourself. At the same time, you also get on their radar. They know you’re helping them spread the word and eventually you can find mutual benefit.”

Check out Stelzner’s full article to get more tips on how to create content that generates leads. To learn more about leveraging content, read our eBook, How to Feed the Content Beast.

Anyone who writes content on behalf of a brand knows that a great piece comes in many steps, such as brainstorming, planning, writing, editing and proofreading. Our recent blogging study says that 90% of leading business bloggers are publishing to their blogs weekly or more often. In order to keep up with this frequency, we must become more efficient writers. Christopher Ratcliffe lists 17 tools that content writers can use for every step of the writing process. One of the tools allows for a distraction-free experience:

Ilys asks you to tell it how many words you want to write. Then when you begin writing you can’t go back, delete or edit anything until you have completed your word count goal. When you have reached your goal, only then can you edit your text.”

Content marketing has been continuously evolving over the years. To ensure content is captivating, it can be beneficial to produce interactive posts. As content marketers in this digital age, we have the ability to use multiple channels such as our website and social platforms to create a better experience for our audience. In this post, Jon Davie discusses content marketing experience strategies and how to create an equipped team that is able to adapt to modern technologies.

Rather than simply telling people what you want them to do (advertising), content marketing aims to give people something they might want: entertainment, utility or information.”

To learn more about the digital shift of content marketing, read the entirety of Davie’s post. To find out more about creating unique experiences, take a look at our eBook, How to Feed the Content Beast.

According to our ultimate list of content marketing statistics, 44% of bloggers typically use more than one image in their posts and marketers will also increase their future use of original visual assets by 70%. Using visuals such as infographics will boost your blog’s engagement rate and capture your audience to better spread your message. In this post, Pauline Cabrera provides six steps along with tips and resources for creating an infographic. The first step? Gather your information and data together.

Studies show that you can convey more information faster with visuals than you can with words. Approximately, 65% of us are visual learners, which proves that most of us learn best through what we see.”

To find out the remaining steps, read Cabrera’s full post. To learn more about content creation, check out our eBook, How to Feed the Content Beast.

Optimizing SEO opens a huge window of opportunity for us to gain new visitors. One tactic that is sometimes overlooked involves link building which can boost your search engine rankings. But, putting all your efforts on SEO traffic can be dangerous and lead to the possibility of 90% of your traffic disappearing overnight due to one algorithm change. For this reason, it’s important to find a balance between different sources of traffic such as social media, offline referrals, and referrals from other sites. When you’re focusing on SEO, use this checklist from Thomas Stern at Search Engine Land. The first item on his checklist is to understand how users search.

High performing content is a balance between users and search engines. Just as your content needs to quickly capture the attention of a user and clearly deliver value, search engines require the same consideration.”

To find out the remaining items on Stern’s checklist, take a look at his full article. To learn about other ways to gain traffic, check out our resources on content promotion:

According to our recent study, the best marketers use a content marketing mix of 65% created content and 25% curated content. To make that 25% meaningful, it’s important for us to produce a curated piece of content that inspires our audience. There are five key elements that go into a successful curated post including a new title, the main text, a new image, a quote, and a call-to-action. In this podcast, Pam Moore discusses that audiences want to hear different perspectives through a curated piece, not just a summary of the original source.

Though curation can be an impactful and excellent way to establish your brand online as well as serve the needs of your audience, it requires both art and science to see real benefit.”

Listen to Pam’s podcast to learn tips on creating stronger curated content that boosts your company’s thought leadership. To learn more about content curation, take a look at our eBook, The Ultimate Guide to Content Curation.

As content marketers, we are always trying to understand what our audience may be looking for from a consumer standpoint. For this reason, creating content that has real value for our audience is key to increasing influence. If we can supply our audience with useful information, they will continue to come back for more. In this article, Jeff Charles gives four tactics we can use to provide value with our content. One tip? Answer a question that is commonly asked by your audience.

Content marketing works because it helps you build influence by providing something helpful to your readers. For this reason, you must make sure you are consistently creating relevant and useful content that carries a strong benefit for the reader.”